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Old 07-18-2014, 05:36 PM   #1
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BMI Vs MMI (Muscle Mass Index)

BMI Vs MMI (Muscle Mass Index)

Published on 07-18-2014 07:25 AM




by Kendall Schmidt Bodybuilding . com

If you have been searching for the fountain of youth, I have some good news: it's been found! No, it's not hidden in some Florida swamp, it's actually somewhere between the dumbbells and the pull-up bar. Nope, I'm not kidding: The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has published some exciting new research that suggests older adults with more muscle mass are less likely to die prematurely than those with less muscle.3

These findings add to a growing pile of evidence that overall body composition is a better predictor of all-cause mortality than overall weight or body mass index (BMI).3 So what does this mean for my fellow meatheads? Muscle mass seems to be an important predictor of life expectancy, and maintaining lean muscle mass well beyond middle age can increase your life span!3

A MASSIVE STUDY
Total body mass includes both fat and muscle. Each of these tissue types has a different effect on the metabolism, so researchers at UCLA tested the hypothesis that greater muscle mass—and the metabolic stimulus it provides—is associated with a lower mortality rate in older adults.1

Study subjects were measured using bioelectrical impedance. Because muscle and fat have different water content, electrical currents flow through them at different rates. Bioelectrical impedance is the measure of how much fat or muscle mass a person has based on the speed of those electrical currents.

Based on the results, researchers calculated each subject's muscle mass relative to his or her height. This value is called a muscle mass index, defined as muscle mass divided by height squared. In 1988-1994, 3,659 people—males over 55 and females over 65—were surveyed for their muscle mass index. In 2004, researchers determined how many individuals had died from natural causes and correlated it with their muscle mass index.3

The results were clear: People with more muscle mass were less likely to die of natural causes. Total mortality was significantly lower in the 25 percent of individuals with the greatest muscle mass index compared to the 25 percent of individuals with the lowest.1

The findings of this study are significant because they reveal a glaring issue in how the medical community measures health and longevity: BMI.

THE BMI LIE
Traditional criteria for obesity and obesity-associated health risks are calculated using the body mass index (BMI). These guidelines are faulty and wildly inaccurate. BMI is calculated from a person's height and weight, defined as mass in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. In no way does BMI calculate a person's body fat directly.2


Imagine a man who is 5-foot-9 and weighs 260 pounds. At that height and weight, the man would have a BMI greater than 40, placing him in the third and most severe tier of obesity. What the BMI doesn't tell you is that this man could be a professional bodybuilder on stage at the Olympia. He has low body fat and has a lean mass percentage bigger than you or I could even imagine. This BMI error doesn't occur only in professional bodybuilders . Well-muscled people are often given higher BMIs and the subsequent "medical" diagnosis of being overweight or obese.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health care organizations use BMI to assess individuals because it is inexpensive and easy to calculate,2 not because it is the most effective method to predict true body composition or health risks. Diagnosing a person as obese or overweight should come from the percentage of fat mass and muscle mass a person has. It's a much more accurate and effective way to measure health risk.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS FOR YOU
This study demonstrates the importance of muscle mass in overall life expectancy and highlights the necessity to look beyond total body mass when assessing health.1 "In other words, the greater your muscle mass, the lower your risk of death," says Dr. Arun Karlamangla, the study's co-author. "Thus, rather than worrying about weight or body mass index, we should be trying to maximize and maintain muscle mass."3

Building muscle mass is important in decreasing metabolic health risks.3 Therefore, adding some muscle and increasing your BMI by increasing your overall body weight could actually improve your health and decrease your risk of premature death.

Considering the support of these findings, measurements of muscle mass relative to body height should be added to criteria health care professionals use to diagnose and treat patients.3 Dr. Preethi Srikanthan, lead researcher in the study, says, "So many studies on the mortality impact of obesity focus on BMI. Our study indicates that clinicians need to be focusing on ways to improve body composition, rather than on BMI alone."3

The next time you step on the scale and worry about what the resulting number means to your health, think about the composition of your overall weight. If you don't already know it, get your body fat percentage tested by a qualified trainer and, most importantly, start building more muscle!

REFERENCES
American Journal of Medicine, The. Muscle Mass Index As a Predictor of Longevity in Older Adults. Volume 127, Issue 6, Pages 547–553, June 2014

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. About BMI for Adults. 9/13/2011. Web. Acessed 5/29/2014

Rivero, Enrique. Older adults: Build muscle and you'll live longer. UCLA Health Systems. 3/13/2014. Web. Accessed 5/29/2014
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Old 07-18-2014, 11:00 PM   #2
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Yeah BMI is a joke. The staff at the gym had the BMI electronic device in the gym 2 weeks ago. It measures BMI and BF%. They input age, height and weight into it and then have you hold it out in front of you pointing at yourself. My results came back at BMI=32.5 and BF%=7.2. The BMI shows me as a porker, and the BF% shows me in damn near contest shape haha.
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Old 07-19-2014, 08:12 AM   #3
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I did that too at the Gold's I just joined. It had me at 29% body fat. And yet my abs pop standing, sitting, flexxed or not. And my skin is so tight over my muscles that my wife can't pich me any where when she is pissed; legs, chest, arms, belly, sides, even my butt. There just not enough loose skin to get hold of. And all the women that hug me or grab me say it's like hugging a rock, and some of them don't even know each other. So how am I 29%?
I've got my osn index now. It's called the BYFO Index. Bust Yo Face Open for telling me I'm 29%.
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Old 07-19-2014, 09:28 AM   #4
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Bmi sucks when your cmpany goes off it to set your rates. The docs will admit its wrong but the company I work for uses it as a ploy to jack your insurance rates. Needless to say im over 35% morbidly obese.
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Old 07-19-2014, 09:37 AM   #5
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When I was in the air force, my waist was 30" with ripped abs. At a physical my bmi was assessed and I was put into the fat boy program. At the first meeting the doctor in charged called me and two other guys up front and told us to take our shirts off. he shook his head and said he didn't know why bodybuilders were always sent over. He wrote us waivers on the spot.
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Old 07-20-2014, 08:31 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by bufbiker View Post
I did that too at the Gold's I just joined. It had me at 29% body fat. And yet my abs pop standing, sitting, flexxed or not. And my skin is so tight over my muscles that my wife can't pich me any where when she is pissed; legs, chest, arms, belly, sides, even my butt. There just not enough loose skin to get hold of. And all the women that hug me or grab me say it's like hugging a rock, and some of them don't even know each other. So how am I 29%?
I've got my osn index now. It's called the BYFO Index. Bust Yo Face Open for telling me I'm 29%.
Are you sure that's not the BMI result? It is different than the BF%. Then again, at 5'7 and 270, your BMI would be over 50. I guess at 29% BF we gotta start calling you porkchop!
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Old 07-21-2014, 01:17 PM   #7
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Well, I do love a good fried pork chop or three with my fried eggs in the morning.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:49 AM   #8
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Use a tape

I use a tape measure. Measure your waist, not hips, around your belly button or fattest part of your mid section. If it is 50% or less of your height your good to go. Still crude, but best "bmi" test I've come across.
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Old 10-01-2018, 05:26 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by proken View Post
I use a tape measure. Measure your waist, not hips, around your belly button or fattest part of your mid section. If it is 50% or less of your height your good to go. Still crude, but best "bmi" test I've come across.
Actually that makes better sense than many of the ways of testing I see being used in gyms.
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Old 12-26-2018, 09:45 PM   #10
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I am glad to see this bumped up. My insurance agent told me they are changing life insurance because of the bogus BMI too. Insurance has figured out that muscle actually weighs something too!

I wonder about his study though. Are muscle men living longer because they have more muscle or because you have to be physically active to gain muscle?
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Old 09-08-2020, 06:42 PM   #11
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great read!!
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